Blame it on the Beeper!

Blame it on the beeper.
Today I received a very disturbing message. It was a message from a family member that went something like this:

“What is wrong with you Ivis, you don’t love me anymore? I have called twice and you have not returned my call. What have I done to you? if you do not want to talk to me anymore please let me know. I promise I will not call again. But, I do not understand why you don’t answer you phone calls. I don’t know if you are ok. If something has happened to you or the family. Like I said, if you have a problem with me and you do not want to talk to me anymore I will understand. If you don’t return my phone call I will assume that is the case. Bye, I will call again later.”

Remember the days when the house phone and letters where the only ways people could get a hold of you?
The days when you could go on a family outing or hang out with your friends without being constantly interrupted or distracted by an electronic tracking device?
I remember those days when you could actually sit down to dinner without having someone on the table completely ignore you because they are too busy texting someone else.
How about the days when sitting on the toilet was a time to relax, let go of stress and perhaps read a book or a magazine, instead of answering the phone and having to explain why your voice is echoing.
How about the days when you could actually enjoy what you are doing at that very moment without distraction.
Man, how I miss those days.

The beeper started it all. When the beeper came out we lost our freedom. We became attached to a tracking device that allowed your followers or stockers to constantly track you down. To send you instant SOS messages keeping you from continuing on your journey, cause when that vibrating beep when off it meant you needed to stop what you were doing, beep that person back or run to a telephone to return that phone call.

Now instead of having to pull up to the nearest payphone and scramble for quarters to return that beep, we are a talking and walking electronic machines.
We carry cell phones, Ipod’s, portable Laptops, ear pieces that makes us appear to others like where are constantly talking to ourselves. If you happen to miss that instant phone call, text or message, our loved ones, friends and marketers think we are ignoring them, avoiding them or that we simply do not love them anymore.
What happened to the life where people were patient and understanding? When you where able to focus on one person or one thing at a time. When we would spend quality time doing the things that we enjoyed without being interrupted by a tracking device?
We are losing our patience, living a rushed life expecting instant result and ratification constantly. How about we slow down a bit and put down our tracking devices every once in a while.

I challenge you to turn off your phones, Ipod’s, laptops and beepers if you still have one, for a couple minutes or how about one day a week and live your moment without unnecessary interruptions. Let’s be more understanding and patient with each other and allow others to live their moment too.
Slow down and smell the Cuban coffee, listen to the birds singing or the cars honking if you live in Miami. Enjoy each other and return messages later!